Oh my God. I think I was just in amazement before I really realized the game was over. I mean, I knew the game was over, but he crushed that ball. He crushed it. It's unbelievable. It was one of the best bolts I've seen here. That was pretty unbelievable.

It feels good, man. Sometimes I can miss three weeks and I still can come and get hits because I am one of the best players in the game. I have confidence in myself and I know my train doesn't stop there. ... I never look for pitches. I always trust myself. In that situation, that guy got me out so many times. But baseball's like that. Sometimes you get me, sometimes I get you. And I got him at the right time.

For his story about Danny Vinik, Steve Buckley spoke with Jeffrey Maier, who was watching the game. "It brought back a lot of memories." ... Dustin Pedroia jammed his left shoulder diving for a ground ball in the second inning. It's too early to tell if he will miss Game 3. ... Mike Timlin = the Admiral?

The only other time each of the four division series all began 2-0 was in 1995 -- the first year of the expanded playoffs.

Dumbest question of the post-season (so far): to Terry Francona, "What is the mood of the team here now heading west after such a dramatic win?"

In the other ALDS, the can-do-anything Yankees are batting [sic] .121 (8-for-66). Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Posada are a combined 0-for-20. Despite a team-wide hitting slump, much of the blame will fall on Slappy's shoulders. He has not hit the ball out of the infield in the two losses and is hitting .085 (4-for-47) with no RBI, dating back to 2004 ALCS Game 5.

15 comments:

You pitch to the man who has led everyone in baseball in homers and runs batted in for the past four years, and has earned a reputation as baseball's greatest big-moment hitter, or you pitch to a man whose ticket to Cooperstown was punched a long time ago.

Okay, I did a huge post about this this season: We all know the fans have the right to the ball as long as they're not reaching out over the imaginary line that extends straight up from the fence. But what about when there's, say, a tarp in front of them, or in this case, an entire extra row of seats for camerapeople? I have to figure anything beyond the point the players can get to (with their feet) is fair game for the fans. What's the rule on that? Here's the post I did, complete with professional-looking diagram. (just think of the "tarp" in the diagram as the extra row of camera seats.)

"Despite a team-wide hitting slump, much of the blame will fall on Slappy's shoulders."

That makes me smile.

And about the ALDS, remember that first year, how they had the team with home field play two on the road, then go home for the last three? That screwed us, as we lost two on the road to start. Some home field advantage that turned out to be. (Worked for the M's, though--in a series where we were all rooting for A-Rod...)

Do you think that the Danny Finik play will go down in history, quite like the Jeffery Maier play?

No.

Totally different plays.

One of the reasons why the Maier play lives on is because THE FRAGGING UMPS BLEW THE CALL. It was clear that Maier interfered with the ball and that the Orioles were robbed. Last nights play was just one of those things to expect at home. That is why it is the anti-bartman.

From Schillings press conference today in Anaheim when he was asked about common denominators in '93, '01 and '04.

...Great example is you look at what Alex has done this year in New York. One of the single best seasons in the history of the game. And the media there couldn't wait, couldn't wait for six at-bats. He's 0-for-6. They had three hits yesterday. The focal of the New York media is that Alex has screwed it up again. ...

"Do you think that the Danny Finik play will go down in history, quite like the Jeffery Maier play?"

Jeffery Maier reached over the fence, a play the umpires should've have recognized and disallowed the home run. Our kid (assuming that camera well is fair game, no one has answered my question above) did exactly what home fans should do, make sure the visiting fielder doesn't reach into the stands to catch a ball. Note: Even if the camera well is not fair game, it was still borderline, and there was no argument. And it didn't directly put runs on the board, as with Maier, aka Still Dead to Me Jones.

Living in Baltimore during the Jeffrey Maier play truly made me hate the MFY on a whole new level. I realized it wasn't only Red Sox fans that hated the MFY. They have never overcome their punk cheating attitude and attract those type of players. How many times have the MFY been accused of cheating in the last 10 years? Has to be at least 400 times...